Butler Memorial Hospital nurses approved a two-year contract extension that includes 3 percent wage increases in 2011 and 2012.

This is the second extension of the contract agreed to in 2005.

The hospital's 350 nurses represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, PASNAP, union agreed to a three-year contract extension in 2007, almost a year before the 2005 contract was to expire.

That extension passed by an 82-percent approval rate, while Monday's extension passed by an 84-percent approval.

Karla Werm, a registered nurse and president of the BMH PASNAP union, said the nurses are proud of the contract and happy for the extension.

"With this new contract, we continue to set high standards that allows us to recruit and retain the best nurses in the area," Werm said.

Ken DeFurio, president and CEO of the Butler Health System, parent to BMH, said nurses are at the "core of our mission, which is to provide care.

"We are very pleased that a positive and stable relationship with them continues," he added.